Method of making columnar structures



April 16, 1935. v, F. HAMMEL ,3

METHOD OF MAKING COLUMNAR STRUCTURES Original Filed April 11, 1931INVENTOR VFctor F Hamml v BY PM Womb. 0 E MwcQS- ATTORNEYS Patented Apr.16, 1935 r 9 a o I 9 PATENT OFFICE origlnal application' April 11, 1931,Serial Noa 529,407, nowPatent No. 1,928,017, dated Sep teniber 26, 1933.Divided andthis application May 26, 1933; Serial No. 672,976 v .1. n a l1, j ?'1e m -f This invention-pertains to metal pole struc- The presentinvention has for oneof its obturesmore particularlyof the type intendedfor jects the provision of an improved pole in ac the support ofoverheadcommunication or transcordance with broad principles of mypatent. mission lines, or as a standard' for electric street Themodification disclosed herein adds to the it lamps. More specificallythe invention relates features. ofthe'patented device, additional ad- 5to improvementsinpoles of latticed construction vantages applied innovel and uniquefashionto consisting of trussedlongitudinal membersbound the basic structure. H together into anintegral structure throughthe The construction ofthe improved pole is such medium of transverseelements. that it ofiers tremendo'us resistance againstearth 10 Thisapplication is a. division of my copending' movementwhenimplanted'directly in the ground. 10"

application Serial No. 529,407,- flled April 11th,Th'e'helically-woundrodsand the longitudinally 1931 issuedas Patent No.;1,928,017; September extending members are sowelded together at 26,1933;j it the intersections as toinsure the utmost strength.

'In-myiPatent No. 1,793,928Qthere is described Artistic simplicity andelegance of design render 16- and. claimed awlatticed metal" pole forpurposes the mp ed t uctu e h hly aeceptable under l5 stated whichcombines maxlmum= strength circumstanceswhich call for ornamentation as.against bending, twisting or compressive stresses, well as utility.Poles emp oyed 'se t lighting with lightness of weightand facility andeconomy Standards re i lu trative f such use. a of 'construction- Thepatented structure comy' w y be expedient from & an b v 20: ris 'm woundinleft and righthand nt facturing standpoint to construct the poles'by20 secting helices together with stiffened orflanged ont nu us w g o tha t g ods in helical bars extending in alignment with the intersecashon- S y it y-p emole feasible} tlons of said rods, all of the rods andbars being under certain conditions, to utilize latticing mam--electrically welded together at points of conars which ext nd a -s pp dfas ion tact. tween adjacent longitudin'als; In general, how- 25. Apolethus formed is ideally bracedagainst ever, such constructioncouldnot be empleyed' every t of b ding, twisting, compressive orconsistent with retention of all of the features of;tensilestress.ltsstrength isthuscorrespondinga the helicallyarranged-poleof my patent aforely great when acting as a beam, as acolumn or said. I 1

when subject to torsion. i I a I Accordingly, a'second'object of theinvention is v The trussed longitudinal members have ino pr vide a pohaving et e g members of" v herent stifl'ness against bending-andbeingbound 2- 8 -S Dp Configuration. which, e e

together by rods which follow the'naturally oc-* the essis subst t y thec c l equ curring helically extendinglinescf'ciompression t O y pat n d"structurewherein the lat of asolid'ortubular pole'sustaining a load,render t g a e p y Winding rods in OH-J 5 the pole of maximum strengthas a column. tinuous helical pa h v 1 T By'. causin'gthe rods to extendas explained, in I t e d w accordancezwithz both right and lefthandspirals Fig; 1. shows in side elevation the improv P a set ofatension'members'are provided to take in accordance with this invention whichutilizes 40 up the load regardless :of thedirection of twist; h ea y' Wd 10118 s lettieing e ts; 1? 40 Thus the torsional strength of. thepole" is ing. 2 is a partial perspective view of the pole creasedsince'the members are able to withstand of Fig. 1 with portions brokenaway to disclose without failure much greater loads when acting theconstruction; a 1 under tension than under compression. v I i s I Fig. 3is a section along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

%. MByzelectrically welding the "longitudinal bars Figis a detail O the2 construefienwhieh and ,latticing rods at the points of contact, thedisclosesone'arrangement employed for welding strength of the pole isnot only increased as com-'- thefrodsand bars at'points of contact; Inthis pared to the employmentof riveted, clamped or showingtherods areslightly kinkedat the cross-' bolted joints, but the constructio'nthereof may be over topermit contact in each instance with theaccomplished with much Lgreater facility and angle bar at the edgesthereof;

economy. .Where rivetedorbolted-joints are -em- Figs. 5 and 6 detail amodification inwhich the played the necessity. for punching and aligningintersecting rods'are forced by pressure or-by the-bolt holes, andinserting and capping thebolts pressure combined with electrical fusionthereof is inherently a slower'andzimore expensivepro into a commonsurface at the edges of the angle 56; cedure. than. electric welding, x;bar to permit welding thereto; .7

zag latticing of Fig. 7.

Fig. '7 is a detail which discloses the manner of applying the zig-zaglatticing construction to the pole of Fig. l in such manner as to retainin substance the advantages of the helically wound latticing;

Fig. 8 depicts in partial perspective a modified form of pole embodyingzig-zag latticing, portions being broken away to show the constructionin detail; and

Fig. 9 details a junction point of the zig-zag and longitudinal membersfor the structure of Fig. 8.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1-4, the structure disclosedcomprises, rods C and C wound in right and left hand tapering helices,together with angle bars 13 extending in alignment with theintersections of the rods, all of the rods and bars being electricallywelded together at the contact points B The rods may or may not bewelded to each other at the points on cross-over d (see Fig. 4).

The angle bars are positioned about the helically extending members withtheir vertices directed outwardly, this particular construction beingideally adapted to prevent shifting or movement of the pole whensupported directly in the ground, as shown, for example, in Fig. 1.

Thus referring to Figure 3 it will be apparent that any tendency toproduce a lateral shifting of the pole in the ground will cause theearth to become more densely wedged or packed between adjacent anglebars in the direction of shift, thereby greatly increasing the movementresisting action of the pole.

In any movement of the pole in the earth there is an annulus of earthhaving boundaries comprising the inner and outer radial limits of theangle bars, which moves in conjunction with the pole, producing anincreasing resistive action by virtue of the greater frictionalresistance between the shell of earth and the surrounding earth. If theentire material enclosed within the annulus mentioned were of steel orwood, the pole would cut through the earth much more readily than withthe construction shown, because the coefiicient of friction betweenearth and wood, or between earth and steel is considerably less thanthat between earth and earth.

Referring to Fig. 4 the oppositely wound or woven latticing rods a-a andbb are kinked at the point of cross-over d to permit contact for weldingat each of the points B In this way the latticing rods and angle barsare all fastened to each other in such manner as to form an integralstructure of maximum strength at the joints. The rods aa and bb may ormay not be welded together at the point of cross-over d.

In the modified construction of Figs. 5 and 6 the rods a-ct and bb arereduced to a state of fused plasticity adjacent the cross-over bypassage of a heavy electrical current through the joint. Coincident withthe fusing of the rods, pressure applied to the several elements forcesthe rods substantially into a common surface of contact at the edges ofthe bar B and at the point of cross-over d. In this way welding iseffected between the angle bar B and the rods H and bb at the fourcontact points B and at the cross-over d. The fusing at dis such thatthe rods o-a and b-b become in effect a single piece of metal oflatticed configuration. This not only provides an exceptionally strongjoint, but one which is neat and trim of appearance.

It is but a step from the helically arranged fused latticing of Figs. 5and 6 to the fused zig- In the latter construction the latticing membersaib1, and c1-ei of identical zig-zag configuration are arranged withtheir vertices opposed. As fusing is accomplished by the passage ofcurrent through the contact point d1, the latticing members are pressedtogether into an integral assembly such that the segment b1d1 of onelatticing member becomes the extension or prolongation of therectilinear segment d1e1 of the other latticing members. The angle barB, as before, extends in alignment with the joints of the latticingmembers and is welded thereto at the contact points B Accordingly thezig-zag latticing as thus applied becomes in substance the mechanicalequivalent of the helical latticing such as disclosed in Figs. 5 and 6.The distinctions between the two constructions reside principally in themethod of formation rather than in the result attained.

Figs. 8 and 9 show the zig-zag latticed construction as applied to apole employing T bars instead of angle bars of the longitudinals. The Tbars have their vertical portions directed inwardly to provide aconvenient flange, Fig. 9, to which the latticing rods g and e arewelded at their vertices d2.

It will be observed that in each of the poles shown, the intersectingrods and bars are so connected that the resulting latticing patternconstitutes a succession of triangles. The triangle as is wellunderstood is the only theoretically noncollapsible plane figure ofskeleton construction. It results therefrom that the poles disclosedherein must necessarily utilize the metal most eiflciently to the endsof maximum strength consistent with lightness; since not only is thestructure considered as a unit ideally braced against every sort ofstress, but the elemental portions thereof are so braced as well. I

It has been determined practically as a result of numerous tests onpoles in accordance with this invention, that due to the ideal trussingemployed, it suflices to employ latticing rods. of exceptionally smallcross-sectional area as compared to that required for the latticingmembers of skeleton poles in common use.

In the appended claims the terms helix, helices, etc. are intended toinclude a. true helix of constant generating radius throughout itsentire extent as well as a tapered helix wherein the generating radiusis variable with length.

I claim:

1. The method of making a columnar structur consisting of latticing rodsand flanged bars which comprises, winding said rods in left and righthand intersecting helices, opposing to said rods on each side of a lineof intersections thereof, respective flanges of a bar aforesaid, andwelding each rod to the flange opposed thereto.

2. The method of making a columnar structure consisting of latticingrods and flanged bars which comprises, winding said rods in left andright hand intersecting helices, opposing to said rods on each side ofa. line of intersections thereof, respective flanges of a bar aforesaid,forcing each rod into contact with the flange opposed thereto andwelding said rod to said flange thereat.

3. The method of making a columnar structure consisting of latticingrods and flanged bars which comprises, winding said rods in left andright hand intersecting helices, welding said rods to each other atpoints of intersection, opposing to said rods on each side of a line ofintersections thereof, respective flanges of a bar aforesaid, andwelding each rod to the flange opposed thereto.

4. The method of making a columnar structure consisting of latticingrods and flanged bars which comprises, winding said rods in left andright hand intersecting helices, opposing to said prises, opposing tosaid rods on each side of a line of intersections thereof the respectiveflanges of an angle bar aforesaid, electrically heating said rods toplasticity at said points of intersection, forcing each said rod at anintersection while in said plastic state into contact with the flangeopposed thereto, and welding said rods and bars thereat.

6. The method of making a cylindrical pole consisting of stifienedlongitudinal bars and transverse latticing rods, which consists inwinding said rods in left and right hand intersecting helices,electrically heating said rods to plasticity at points ofintersection,forcing said left and right hand helically extending rods while in saidplastic state substantially into a common cylindrical surface bypressure exerted at said intersections, and welding said stiffened barsto said latticing rods in alignment with the intersections thereof.

7. The method of making a columnar structure consisting of latticingrods and longitudinal angle bars which comprises winding said rods inleft and right hand intersecting helices, opposing to said rods on eachside of a line of intersections thereof, the respective flanges of anangle bar, kinking said rods at their places of intersection sothat eachrod adjacent an intersection will'be in contact with both flanges of anangle bar, and welding each rod to the flanges opposed thereto.

VICTOR FRANK HAMMEL.

